Dental anxiety in children

Dr. Joan Bladé is an expert in Dentistry and one of his specialties is dental anxiety in children and adolescents. With more than 25 years of experience, this doctor has a qualified academic background and currently also teaches at the University of Barcelona. In the following article, he explains how to know the patient’s level of anxiety through drawing and the main causes.

Dental anxiety in children and adolescents affects between 5.7% and 19% of the population. To discover this problem, the conventional method is to answer questionnaires during dental visits. However, another way of observing the propensity to fear is through drawings. By means of the graphic representation of the consultation, the level of anxiety of children between 5 and 8 years of age in the face of dental interventions can be calculated.

By analyzing the drawings, if details are detected such as: the presence of artificial light, exaggerated instruments, teeth, the color red, the patient crying or the absence of arms in the characters represented, the anxiety suffered by the child can be identified.

The main causes of dental anxiety in children and adolescents during the visit to the dentist are: the deep fear of pain, the fear of being scolded for the care of the mouth or the loss of control. In the case of children, the fact of knowing negative experiences of their parents will condition their perception with the dentist.